More tarpon fishing today I had a half day scheduled and wasn’t sure what the target species was going to be. My customer Doug and his father had been out the day before tarpon fishing without much luck so they were originally wanting to do some rod bending. However I told them it was still a far run to get to decent fishing this time of year even for simple rod bending, so they discussed it and decided to just do the tarpon thing again. We ran back towards flamingo and fished some of the channels where the fish had been the last few days. Caught the start of the incoming tide and fishing was good. First we had a couple big rays on. Next we hooked a nice 40 lb tarpon we landed from the dead boat, very nice for them to get one! Then we hooked another tarpon of about 60 lbs that made several good runs and jumps, we had to chase him down for a little while. After that we caught a couple sharks, a big lemon shark and a big blacktip shark. We moved a little further down the channel for the last 30 minutes and jumped another tarpon, then soon after hooked another big fish of 80 lbs. We landed him and that finished our morning. Normally it is tough to do a half day trip back there as half your trip is just running back and forth, though since the islamorada tarpon fishing has been consistently good lately back there and I knew we wouldn’t have to wait on a tide change or anything, I thought it was worth the risk. And it paid off! Full day tomorrow will probably be hitting the same thing again in the early morning. Not much on the books for next week we are definietly getting into ‘off season’ and not sure what this hurricane is going to do, but if you are in town and looking to go catch a silver king, lemme know! 3 for 4
8/22/15 August Islamorada Tarpon Fishing Report
Went out with friends and family today for a few hours. Mullet were thick we netted a bunch and stockpiled some for the next couple of days. Tomorrow is just a half day so may not be tarpon fishing but we will see. Anyways had incoming tide all morning back around flamingo. Found some fish in the channel they were in the last couple days. We got in the action pretty quick and caught a couple nice ones, one of 40 lbs or so, and another about 90 lbs. The 90 was definitely a big fish to see this time of year! After that we jumped one more off about 45 minutes later as the tide started to slow. We checked out off the beach to the west after that with the start of the falling tide, though did not see much for tarpon we only fished for 30 minutes or so. Caught a couple sharks and a big jack and called it a day! 2 for 3
8/21/15 August Tarpon Fishing in Flamingo
Back at it again today I had Chris and Alix out fishing this morning. We left out early and ran into the backcountry. Caught bait on the way it was real easy one throw and we caught 50 mullets. We tried some channels close by where I had caught a fish yesterday morning. Though this morning no luck we did see a tarpon roll nearby while we were fishing, but no bites out of him all we caught was a little bonnet head shark. After a half hour or so I ran towards flamingo where we had seen some fish yesterday before heading home around 11:00. That was on the falling tide and this morning we had the last hour and a half of incoming tide. We set up and soon after I saw multiple fish rolling on the surface down the channel. We moved 100 yards down and set up and within a minute Chris was hooked up to a nice 30 lb tarpon. We landed him he only jumped once late in the fight. After that we set back up and we hooked another nicer size fish. We got him near the boat a few times though he made one more blistering run and unfortunately jumped and must of gotten the line wrapped around him funny as he went through the leader. The picture below is of this fish and you can see the line snap as he jumps! Next up Alix had a big sting ray on and while fighting that the rod in the holder went off with another tarpon, though again that one broke off somehow the line had gotten tip wrapped. A little string of bad luck was frustrating. Though we broke the curse and right on the change of the tide Alix hooked up a nice 50 lb tarpon and we got a good fight out of it and she landed it. By the time we got back and set up the tide had switched we saw a few more tarpon roll though they appeared to be going out of the channel with the tide as we quit seeing them soon after. We did catch a couple big blacktip sharks and then a big lemon shark before calling it a day. Good fishing still this late in August all it takes is to get into the right channel with the right school of fish and it is game on! Taking some friends tomorrow for tarpon and then have a couple trips on sunday and monday, though not sure what is going to happen with this hurricane out there. May be a slow week we will see, but if you are in town and looking to go next week drop me a line! 2 for 4
